Serious lapses have reportedly been uncovered following preliminary investigations by SMRT into a train tunnel flooding incident.

No maintenance for almost 10 months

According to Channel News Asia on Oct. 31, maintenance works for the Bishan portal sump pump system were discovered to not have been properly carried out since December last year.

Quarterly maintenance works for December 2016 and March and June 2017 were not conducted as prescribed in SMRT's manual.

However, maintenance records were still duly signed off and submitted.

Moreover, the investigation revealed there were no track access approvals issued for preventive maintenance of the Bishan portal sump pumps for the maintenance dates.

The pumps were also not activated on those days that the maintenance procedure had been carried out, pump records for the same dates showed.

Had the maintenance work been done, the pumps would have been activated as required as part of the maintenance procedure.

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Staff suspended

The manager and staff responsible for the maintenance of the Bishan portal sump pump system have been suspended and are assisting in these investigations, SMRT said.

About the flooding

On Saturday, Oct 7, a section of the North-South Line between Braddell and Bishan MRT stations was flooded.

More than a quarter of a million commuters were affected after train services were disrupted for more than 20 hours.